Affinity and The Jon Egging Trust

For 2019, Affinity have partnered with The Jon Egging Trust (JET) to help raise awareness of the charity and help raise vital funds. The charity aim to help young people achieve their true potential. JET was set up in honour of Flt Lt Jon Egging, who lost his life whilst completing a display at the Bournemouth Air Festival in August 2011. He was coming to the end of his first year with the world-famous Red Arrows flying in the position of Red 4. The Jon Egging trust was set up in his honour, to support people who find themselves in difficult circumstances. They help them to overcome adversity and achieve their full potential. They deliver accredited learning programmes to develop young people’s life and work skills by providing access to inspirational role models and life changing opportunities linked to aviation, engineering and science. JET raises aspirations, confidence, and self-esteem, helping young people to re-engage with education and make informed choices about their future.

We have decided to participate in a number of events this year to help support, raise funds and awareness for the trust. On Friday 8th March, a team from Affinity attended the annual Jon Egging Trust Celebration and Fundraising Dinner. The setting for the dinner was the Concorde Hangar, Aerospace Bristol, this provided an unusual and interesting backdrop for the event. This well attended event saw Dr Emma Egging talking about the trusts success over the last year and what the future holds. With a successful auction, the charity raised more funds to be able to continue their vital work.

During the summer, we will be working with the JET Blue Skies Programme which is an intensive, targeted, early intervention scheme working with young people from the age of 10+ who are often underachieving or come from challenging backgrounds and may be at risk of falling out of education. They concentrate on raising a student’s confidence and aspirations; providing life skills that support them to reengage with learning and to realise their full potential. We will be providing employability advice, workshops and support to a group of students who are looking to refocus their studies and gain direction from our role models. https://www.joneggingtrust.org.uk/blue-skies/

In August, one of our Operations Officers from Affinity is taking part in the challenging Prudential Cycle Ride 100 from London through to Surrey with the finish at Buckingham Palace. He is raising money for JET and the British Heart Foundation.

In September, a team of keen cyclists from Affinity are taking part in the Ride4JET which commences and finishes at Cranwell on a 50 or 80 mile route around Lincolnshire. The JET ride aims to challenge people to ride a demanding distance whilst raising funds to help JET support more young people to be the best they can be.

Keep an eye on our Twitter and LinkedIn pages for our sporting event training updates, fundraising news and how we are continuing to show our support throughout the year.